April 24 Annual Members Meeting & Lecture – All Welcome

Please join us on April 24 for our Annual Members Meeting. The evening begins with a social hour at 6:30. The program starts at 7:30 with the BBC’s annual business meeting and the election of new officers and board members. (See the election slate.) Once we have concluded with club business and announcements we will go the evening’s speaker.

This meeting is open to all and held at the Harvard Geological Lecture Hall at 24 Oxford Street in Cambridge. (This is next door to the Museum of Comparative Zoology.)

Concerned about parking? Don’t Be!! Starting at 5:30 PM there will be free parking for all at the Harvard Oxford Street Garage entered off Oxford Street across from Everett Street. Just tell the attendant that you will be going to the BBC meeting.

While we hope that you will be able to join us in person there will also be a Zoom link for those who cannot make it into Cambridge.

Introducing the BBC’s 2026 Species of Concern – The Bobolink

At the meeting we will kick off a new BBC initiative, our annual Species of Concern. Each year we will designate a bird that is facing challenges in Massachusetts.

For 2026 our Species of Concern will be the Bobolink, a grassland bird that faces challenges across the state. You will learn about the Bobolink during the evening’s lecture – see more below – and you will hear about field trips and other activities to learn about and support the Bobolink.

Lecture: Bobolinks on the Brink: What do Bobolinks Tell Us about Our Relationship with the Land, and How Can We Protect Them?

Hyla Howe, Grassland Bird Biologist at Mass Audubon and Program Manager for the Bobolink Project will join the Brookline Bird Club to discuss our first endangered species spotlight: the Bobolink!

Mass Audubon’s Grassland Bird Biologist will join the Brookline Bird Club to discuss our first endangered species spotlight: the Bobolink! Bobolink populations are closely intertwined with shifting land use patterns and agricultural practices, and conservation solutions to protect them are complex. Hyla will share observations from the field, insights from conversations with farmers and landowners, takeaways from efforts to improve and scale the Bobolink Project, and results from a regional land use change analysis to describe where bobolink conservation stands today, and what you can do to help.

About the Speaker

Hyla Howe is Mass Audubon’s Grassland Bird Biologist and the Program Manager for the Bobolink Project. Hyla received her M.S. from the University of Vermont, where she studied grassland birds and hayfield management in New York’s Champlain Valley. She is still based in Vermont, where she works closely with farmers, landowners, and regional partners to scale bird-friendly hayfield management efforts across five states. In her free time, she enjoys biking, skiing, paddling, and making pottery.

The Details Including Zoom Link

When: April 24, social hour staring at 6:30 PM, program starting at 7:30 PM

Where: Harvard Geological Lecture Hall, 24 Oxford Street, Cambridge

Parking: Harvard Oxford Street Garage entered opposite Everett Street at Oxford Street

Zoom Registration Link (advance registration strongly suggested): https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_a32jwL2NQLqc8g1dl_Z1vw